31_days fic: Same OCs, different mythos...
I was watching "Spirited Away" the other night (or trying to, before the darn DVD decided to freeze due to the disk being scratched to hell) and this idea just popped into my head... Not such a far-fetched crossover, in a "Six Degrees of Separation" sort of way, since Hayao Miyazaki was a mentor to Hideaki Anno (who was one of the animators in Miyazaki's "Grave of the Fireflies").
Title: "Angelic Refugees"
Day/Theme: Oct. 21. In the midst of this world/ we stroll along the roof of hell/ gawking at flowers
Series: "Spirited Away" (with OCs from another project)
Character/Pairing: Chihiro, Haku, Linn, Yubaba
Rating: PG (just to be sure)
Author's note: An interesting but slightly chilling idea that came to me while I took a break from writing my current magnum opus, "Neon Enoch Evangelion", aka the ambitious NGE project (well, it's chilling if you know the story of NEE, but one of the OCs is anything but reassuring...), but I still couldn't quite get away from it: some of my original Grigori characters decided spend some time at Yubaba's bath-house...
Just before sundown, Chihiro awoke to someone calling her name from the window. She crawled off her futon to find Haku waiting for her.
"Haku, what is it?" she asked, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
"Wash up quickly and come down right away: we have some special guests arriving any minute now, and they're coming earlier than we expected," he said. "Be quick about it, Yubaba's in a bad mood at the change in the schedule." He dropped down from the window, leaving Chihiro to scurry into a clean tunic and make herself presentable.
By the time she reached the main receiving room of the bath-house, the place was already a bustle of activity, Linn barking orders to the attendents, who hurried through with steaming trays of food and piles of fresh towels.
"Sen, get going and bring down more towels, we've got a hundred fifty guests about to arrive and we're barely ready for them," Linn yelled over the chatter and the commotion. Not needing to be told twice, Chihiro scurried to the store-room before Linn could rip into her for dawdling.
On the way back, Chihiro paused on one of the many walkways on the facade of the bath-house to watch the paddle steamer docking below. As the gangway let down, a procession of ...people emerged, not the usual stream of outlandish creatures. Instead a crowd with recognizably human faces approached; but as they drew near, she realized their skin looked as pale as moonlight and their hair was of light shades of color: pale blues and light pinks, lavender, pale grey, silver-white. Their eyes ranged in shades of red from deep red-brown to a bright blood-red, their tall, slender forms clad in a motley array of garments: some wore business suits or skirts and blouses, others wore long robes with cloaks of feathers draped over their shoulders. At the rear of the procession walked a tall man with a sharp, thin face, his silvery hair falling over his forehead in a dense mane, his hands tucked inside the sleeves of a white kimono with gold embroidery that looked like angel wings.
"Who are they?" she asked.
Haku came up behind her, carrying an armload of fresh bedding. "They call themselves Grigori," he said. "They seem to be something like angels in your world, but they hide among the humans, working alongside them."
"They... they look like people," Chihiro managed to whisper.
"That's because they generally look human when they're on the other side: I don't think they had much time to change into their true forms, and if they did, the light shining from them would blind everyone," Haku said.
"Hey, stop gawking, the both of you, and get that stuff down here now!" Linn yelled up to them from the bottom of the staircase.
"We're coming! Chihiro yelled back.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Much later, when the guests had settled in their rooms and were bathing or dining, Chihiro slipped outside into the garden for a breath of fresh night air. The Grigori seemed like pleasant folk, but she sensed something cold and a bit sad about them. From hints of their conversations she had eavesdropped on, while bringing in dishes from the kitchen and clearing the tables, Chihiro had figured they had come to the bath-house on their way to another place, but they had arrived early because something had happened to change their plans, something unpleasant.
Hearing footsteps on the garden path, she ducked under a flowering rhododendron bush, far enough in to hide, but still able to peek out at the passersby without being seen.
Yubaba approached, her hand on the arm of the tall Grigori man in the white kimono. Yubaba seemed a giant to Chihiro, but this man stood a full head taller than the old witch. His red eyes made Chihiro think of a cat, not a nice little kitty-cat, but a tiger or something just as big and scary.
"You really think the humans are going to do that to your world?" she said.
"Think it? I know it, and I know it only too well," the tall man said, speaking in a flat, nasally voice. He paused in front of the bush and sighed, annoyed. "And what galls me is that I bought into it, not knowing what kind of tricks they were playing on me and on the rest of us. And it is my business to know these things."
"Come, Enniel, no need to be so harsh on yourself. Everyone makes an investment that turns costly, once in a while," Yubaba said, patting his hand.
"This isn't a matter of money, it's the price of a world," Mr. Enniel said. "It's going to cost you as well: you're going to be swamped with spirits in a matter of days, if the humans behind this have their will. And all this time, it's as if I've been walking along the roof of hell, gazing at flowers, without noticing the flames licking through the cracks in the shingles."
Chihiro gasped. Was something bad happening in the world she had come from? Would she be able to pay off her debt to Yubaba and find her parents before anything happened there, or would she be stuck here forever?
Yubaba looked behind her, suspicious, then with a roar, she reached under the bush. "So that's where you got to, Sen. Eavesdropping on one of my best-paying customers?"
"Come, come, Yubaba, no need to misuse the little thing," Mr. Enniel said, with a smile, but somehow it didn't look very pleasant. "What's your name, child?"
"I'm Sen," Chihiro replied. "I-I work here."
"Though you won't be working in the bath-house for much longer, if I have any say in the matter," Yubaba said. "I'll send you down to the boiler-house."
"Let her alone, she looks worn out," Enniel said. He leaned down to Chihiro's level and gently pushed Yubaba's hand from her shoulder. "Taking a little rest, Sen? You've had a long night, because of my family's sudden arrival."
"Are you from the human world? Is something bad happening there?" she blurted out before she knew what she was saying.
"That's enough! Back to the servants' quarters with you, Sen," Yubaba snapped, but Mr. Enniel held up one hand for quiet.
"That will do: I think what she heard would cure her of eavesdropping ever again," he said. To Chihiro, he added, "I don't know what world you're from, Sen, but rest assured, time doesn't flow here the same way it does out there. There's time enough for you, once your contract is done here."
"Are you sure about that?" Chihiro said.
"On my word, I am," Mr. Enniel said. "Now... run along and get some rest: you've earned it, I think."
"Her work has hardly begun for the day," Yubaba said.
"Give her a half-holiday, then, as a gift to an old and faithful customer," he said, giving Yubaba that unpleasant smile.
"All right, when you put it that way," Yubaba grumbled. To Chihiro, she added, "You heard what Mr. Enniel said, but make no mistake: tomorrow will be twice as hard as tonight was."
Chihiro bowed and sputtered a thank you before she ran to the servants' quarters. She only hoped Mr Enniel spoke the truth: he didn't seem like the sort anyone could trust, but even then, he wouldn't lie about something that big.
Title: "Angelic Refugees"
Day/Theme: Oct. 21. In the midst of this world/ we stroll along the roof of hell/ gawking at flowers
Series: "Spirited Away" (with OCs from another project)
Character/Pairing: Chihiro, Haku, Linn, Yubaba
Rating: PG (just to be sure)
Author's note: An interesting but slightly chilling idea that came to me while I took a break from writing my current magnum opus, "Neon Enoch Evangelion", aka the ambitious NGE project (well, it's chilling if you know the story of NEE, but one of the OCs is anything but reassuring...), but I still couldn't quite get away from it: some of my original Grigori characters decided spend some time at Yubaba's bath-house...
Just before sundown, Chihiro awoke to someone calling her name from the window. She crawled off her futon to find Haku waiting for her.
"Haku, what is it?" she asked, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
"Wash up quickly and come down right away: we have some special guests arriving any minute now, and they're coming earlier than we expected," he said. "Be quick about it, Yubaba's in a bad mood at the change in the schedule." He dropped down from the window, leaving Chihiro to scurry into a clean tunic and make herself presentable.
By the time she reached the main receiving room of the bath-house, the place was already a bustle of activity, Linn barking orders to the attendents, who hurried through with steaming trays of food and piles of fresh towels.
"Sen, get going and bring down more towels, we've got a hundred fifty guests about to arrive and we're barely ready for them," Linn yelled over the chatter and the commotion. Not needing to be told twice, Chihiro scurried to the store-room before Linn could rip into her for dawdling.
On the way back, Chihiro paused on one of the many walkways on the facade of the bath-house to watch the paddle steamer docking below. As the gangway let down, a procession of ...people emerged, not the usual stream of outlandish creatures. Instead a crowd with recognizably human faces approached; but as they drew near, she realized their skin looked as pale as moonlight and their hair was of light shades of color: pale blues and light pinks, lavender, pale grey, silver-white. Their eyes ranged in shades of red from deep red-brown to a bright blood-red, their tall, slender forms clad in a motley array of garments: some wore business suits or skirts and blouses, others wore long robes with cloaks of feathers draped over their shoulders. At the rear of the procession walked a tall man with a sharp, thin face, his silvery hair falling over his forehead in a dense mane, his hands tucked inside the sleeves of a white kimono with gold embroidery that looked like angel wings.
"Who are they?" she asked.
Haku came up behind her, carrying an armload of fresh bedding. "They call themselves Grigori," he said. "They seem to be something like angels in your world, but they hide among the humans, working alongside them."
"They... they look like people," Chihiro managed to whisper.
"That's because they generally look human when they're on the other side: I don't think they had much time to change into their true forms, and if they did, the light shining from them would blind everyone," Haku said.
"Hey, stop gawking, the both of you, and get that stuff down here now!" Linn yelled up to them from the bottom of the staircase.
"We're coming! Chihiro yelled back.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Much later, when the guests had settled in their rooms and were bathing or dining, Chihiro slipped outside into the garden for a breath of fresh night air. The Grigori seemed like pleasant folk, but she sensed something cold and a bit sad about them. From hints of their conversations she had eavesdropped on, while bringing in dishes from the kitchen and clearing the tables, Chihiro had figured they had come to the bath-house on their way to another place, but they had arrived early because something had happened to change their plans, something unpleasant.
Hearing footsteps on the garden path, she ducked under a flowering rhododendron bush, far enough in to hide, but still able to peek out at the passersby without being seen.
Yubaba approached, her hand on the arm of the tall Grigori man in the white kimono. Yubaba seemed a giant to Chihiro, but this man stood a full head taller than the old witch. His red eyes made Chihiro think of a cat, not a nice little kitty-cat, but a tiger or something just as big and scary.
"You really think the humans are going to do that to your world?" she said.
"Think it? I know it, and I know it only too well," the tall man said, speaking in a flat, nasally voice. He paused in front of the bush and sighed, annoyed. "And what galls me is that I bought into it, not knowing what kind of tricks they were playing on me and on the rest of us. And it is my business to know these things."
"Come, Enniel, no need to be so harsh on yourself. Everyone makes an investment that turns costly, once in a while," Yubaba said, patting his hand.
"This isn't a matter of money, it's the price of a world," Mr. Enniel said. "It's going to cost you as well: you're going to be swamped with spirits in a matter of days, if the humans behind this have their will. And all this time, it's as if I've been walking along the roof of hell, gazing at flowers, without noticing the flames licking through the cracks in the shingles."
Chihiro gasped. Was something bad happening in the world she had come from? Would she be able to pay off her debt to Yubaba and find her parents before anything happened there, or would she be stuck here forever?
Yubaba looked behind her, suspicious, then with a roar, she reached under the bush. "So that's where you got to, Sen. Eavesdropping on one of my best-paying customers?"
"Come, come, Yubaba, no need to misuse the little thing," Mr. Enniel said, with a smile, but somehow it didn't look very pleasant. "What's your name, child?"
"I'm Sen," Chihiro replied. "I-I work here."
"Though you won't be working in the bath-house for much longer, if I have any say in the matter," Yubaba said. "I'll send you down to the boiler-house."
"Let her alone, she looks worn out," Enniel said. He leaned down to Chihiro's level and gently pushed Yubaba's hand from her shoulder. "Taking a little rest, Sen? You've had a long night, because of my family's sudden arrival."
"Are you from the human world? Is something bad happening there?" she blurted out before she knew what she was saying.
"That's enough! Back to the servants' quarters with you, Sen," Yubaba snapped, but Mr. Enniel held up one hand for quiet.
"That will do: I think what she heard would cure her of eavesdropping ever again," he said. To Chihiro, he added, "I don't know what world you're from, Sen, but rest assured, time doesn't flow here the same way it does out there. There's time enough for you, once your contract is done here."
"Are you sure about that?" Chihiro said.
"On my word, I am," Mr. Enniel said. "Now... run along and get some rest: you've earned it, I think."
"Her work has hardly begun for the day," Yubaba said.
"Give her a half-holiday, then, as a gift to an old and faithful customer," he said, giving Yubaba that unpleasant smile.
"All right, when you put it that way," Yubaba grumbled. To Chihiro, she added, "You heard what Mr. Enniel said, but make no mistake: tomorrow will be twice as hard as tonight was."
Chihiro bowed and sputtered a thank you before she ran to the servants' quarters. She only hoped Mr Enniel spoke the truth: he didn't seem like the sort anyone could trust, but even then, he wouldn't lie about something that big.